electrolytes for a beginner

[Scott F.]

I'm not much on drinking water and use the drink mixers most of the time but have started to cut some of those out a little.

I see the long-term costs of buying LMNT and such. Plus, they don't taste good to me and left me filling bloated. 

If I made one of the homemade versions to the right ratios and used it as a 'saltshaker' and then drank as needed, would that be the same thing?

Being prior military, I understand there is no such thing as a dumb question. Just dumb people who ask questions.

 

Scott

 

[Miranda]

Some people don't bother with electrolytes. I have some re-lyte, by Redmond's, but I don't use it regularly. Probably I should as I have been getting Charlie horses at night. I use Redmond's salt on all my food and I have their big salt crystals that I lick when I feel tired or snacky. I have avoided flavored electrolytes, because I think they make getting over the sugar addiction harder. Stevia also makes me hungry because of the cephalic phase insulin response. Our brains register the sweet taste and cue the insulin leading to a blood sugar dip, hence the hunger. I am guessing your bloating is due to another ingredient in the lmnt not the electrolytes themselves. I have tried making Snake juice recipe, but I prefer the tub of re-lyte. It tastes better IMO.

[Scott F.]

I will give it a try.

Still new and trying to figure some things out. 

Thanks.

 

Scott

[Miranda]

Side note: about 15 years ago I had a horrible experience with over consuming Zevia on a hot July day. I got very bad diarrhea and was  bedridden for 2 days felt like food poisoning. I didn't know it was the Zevia till a couple years later I had the same thing happen with True Lemon lemonade also made with stevia, or the big food version of it. 

[Geezy]

I was taking LMNT and I liked it but I switched to KetoChow because it was more cost effective for me.
I was taking electrolytes because the conventional wisdom in the carnivore community was that it was a good thing to do, especially in the beginning because we tend to flush out a higher amount of minerals when eating this way.
I have since stopped using KetoChow because my last bloodwork panel showed that I was low on sodium and high on potassium. High potassium is a bad thing for someone who has a heart condition. That and the potassium was causing me to lose too much sodium.
So I stopped the supplement and six week later my potassium and sodium were back to normal.
Now I just continue to salt my food to taste and I add a 1/4 teaspoon of Redmonds to my water nearly every time I fill my tumbler. I probably fill my 20oz tumbler up 5 or 6 times a day. The only other liquid I drink is one cup of tea in the morning and I will end that ritual in the near future.
I do take a magnesium complex supplement but not for the minerals but for a totally different issue concerning my bowels.
It’s now been 9 or 10 weeks since I stopped taking electrolytes and I haven’t noticed any difference in how I feel.
We are all different with different needs but even after nearly 400 days of being carnivore I’m still learning and experimenting. What works for me and what my needs are may be different from yours. Especially of age, what we eat and even the environment in which we live.
Try something for a few weeks or months and see if you notice any difference. Stop for the same amount of time and see it there’s any difference.
Get lab work done to confirm but trials. Better to know for sure rather that guess.
And try to remember that there is no set cookie cutter way of eating carnivore. You start at a baseline and you may need to adjust one way or the other according to what your body needs.


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[Scott F.]

Thanks for the input. I'm at thirty days with pretty much only positive results. The diarrhea was due to the change in diet, chocolate milk on an empty stomach followed by a large steak. Probably would have been on the toilet regardless of whether I was carnivore eating or not.

I will make some adjustments and wing it for a couple weeks. I have an appointment in two weeks so I will see bloodwork numbers.

Funniest part, even with eating once a day when I am on night shift, I have only been actually hungry twice in the last thirty days. I have always been a big breakfast eater. I could the ass out of dead skunk at 5AM. I have yet to have the morning hunger pangs. 

Trying to remain even keeled but so far, I have only seen the upside. 

Scott

 

 

[Geezy]

That’s excellent Scott. Many people don’t start experiencing that “keto hunger” until they’ve been eating this way for awhile.
Keto hunger is that hunger that you barely even notice. It’s an empty belly but easy to ignore. Then when you finally eat, all you want is that fat and protein and it tastes so good. Like tomorrow, I’ll be going striper fishing and all I’ll have is my one cup of bulletproof tea in the morning and I probably won’t eat until the end of the day. I just won’t get hungry and I’ll have energy all day. I love that feeling. It’s also what allows me to look at bad foods with no desire to eat them when everyone else is eating that junk. It all might as well be a pile of manure in my eyes.
On your bloodwork, be prepared for some wacky numbers. Your body is going through a transition period so your numbers may not fall into any of the percentage ranges for your area.
It is usually recommended that we shouldn’t get any blood tests until we’ve been carnivore for at least six months. So just be prepared for that. If you doctor starts to freak out just let him know you’ve got it under control through diet and nutrition and it’ll work itself out in a few months or so. Don’t let him talk you into a bunch of worthless pills.
But when you do get your results post them up here so we can see what they are.


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[Scott F.]

No doubts.

The bloodwork is in no relation to starting the carnivore diet. I have Devic's/NMO (Neuromyelitis Optica-very akin to Multiple Sclerosis) so I do bloodwork regularly in between infusions. 

This past week has been my first stretch of 12-hour day shifts. My concern was not having the gas to make it thru the day, so I snacked on small pieces of chicken and a couple hard boiled eggs. The weight loss shifted a little from rapid loss to leveling off to even adding 1-2 pounds. Now I don't think the energy levels are an issue.

 

This morning was my first real day in the gym in a really long time and between my age, my weight, the NMO and the dumpster diet for the last 30+ years I'm not the man I once was no doubts, maybe not even once. I was further down the strength chart than I pictured myself. So, I basically get to start from close to zero.

No one really ever knows if a health kick can turn into a lifestyle, but I am 35 or so days in and seen nothing but the positives. (Yay me). I have not had the cravings nor the desires to eat any of the crap that I ate before. I have actually walked past the Little Debbie snack cake rack and not grabbed at least one for the first time in maybe 30 years. The carnivore diet just happens to be right up my alley as I like the staples of the diet, at times I like eating a lot of those staples, and I really do not see myself getting bored or having to 'force' some variety into those staples. That part of the change has been the easiest and I really do not see that changing. 

Babbling on, but being a doubter is natural, I sound like one of the influencers or revival tent preachers when it comes to this carnivore thing. I have to end the conversation is that it is working for me, and everyone is different. 35 days in and there is no way I should be giving advice to anyone but if I did, the carnivore change is amazing, and I see mostly people in their 30's-40's-50's and beyond doing really well. I would suggest people start in their early 20's before they use the dumpster diets to get to where I am at 54. I'm a never too late guy myself but I am also a "should have started earlier' guy at the same time. 

 

Scott

[Geezy]

I’m right there with you Scott. I want to shout the good news from the rooftops.
It sounds like you’ve got the right mindset to succeed in this WOE.
Keep up the good work.


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[Geezy]

Hey Scott. I just came across this video about someone with MS and is eating carnivore. I don’t know if I will have any relevance for you or not.


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